Oregon Music News

Thanks for coming back to OMN’s Coffeeshop Conversations. As always, we’re at World Cup Coffee and Tea at NW 18th and Glisan in Portland. We were all scared to some degree when the Columbia Gorge was set on fire. Some to a larger degree than others. In the coffeeshop with me is Billy Oskay who lives in Corbett. His famed recording studio, Big Red Studio, as well as his home were within a few miles of the Eagle Creek fire. Can you imagine what that must have been like? You don’t have to because Billy is here to let us know. We know the end of the story. The courageous firefighters did their job, but so did the rain and winds. What did he do when he got an evacuation warning? How are things now?

Thanks for joining us again at World Cup Coffee and Tea, NW 18th & Glisan for another OMN Coffeeshop Conversation. Joining me today is Douglas Detrick, the Executive Director of Portland Jazz Composers Ensemble which I have been covering since before it was a real organization about ten years ago, and before there was an OMN. Since he became Executive Director he along with Ryan Meagher and Mieke Bruggeman-Smith have made PJCE into a real cultural force in Oregon. They’ve got a large amount of concerts and events coming this fall and we’re going to get the inside scoop on them. Douglas is also a trumpeter, composer and arranger. How does he have time for all this and his two little kids? Let’s meet him.

Welcome back to OMN’s Coffeeshop Conversations. Big thank you to our Managing Director Scott Cunningham for a terrific conversation with Rich Layton. Hope Scott will come back and do some more of these. As usual, we’re at World Cup Coffee and Tea at NW 18th and Glisan and with me is KMHD’s Program Director Matt Fleeger…also the guy I report to at KMHD, so there’s that. In the eight years since he moved from a station in Texas to take over at KMHD, he has transformed the station, built a ratings winner, an artistic and financial success in a field where those are usually incompatible. He brought a philosophy with him which he has carried out through the years. KMHD is one of the few, if not the only Jazz station to have raised the numbers of younger listeners, and that’s pretty amazing. Meet Matt Fleeger.

Our guest is Rich Layton, one of the area's finest harmonica players and one stand-up cat if there ever was one. Take a listen as we trace his musical career, his influences, gear, and continuing efforts to swampify the Portland music scene.

Alan Jones, drummer, teacher and founder of the Alan Jones Academy of Music is here. He’s been one of our finest drummers for decades. His Academy has sent some of our best young musicians to some of the finest music schools on earth. Saying that someone is a force of nature is overused but in Alan’s case it’s the truth…in his drumming and how he lives his life. He’s an interesting mixture of humbleness and confidence. Probably a good thing for all of us to learn how to be. That’s something he teaches, too. He’s a world traveler and a Portland native. And he’s got at least four bands going as we speak. You’re going to like Alan Jones.

Welcome back to World Cup Coffee & Tea at NW 18th and Glisan for another Oregon Music News Coffeeshop Conversation. With me today is a singular gentleman, Oregon Music Hall of Fame member Calvin Walker. He was one of our most favorite bringers of the funk. As a singer and a drummer in a vibrant Soul and Funk scene, he used to work six nights a week. Later he was the head of the Musicians Union. I met him when he was Development Director at KMHD when it was at Mt. Hood Community College, and was the voice of reason in a dysfunctional environment. He stayed at Mt. Hood when the station moved its operations to OPB. He’s now a counselor. He has a wealth of stories and is a fountain of musical knowledge. He’s funny too.

Another OMN Coffeeshop Conversation as always we’re in World Cup Coffee and Tea at NW 18th & Glisan in smoky Portland. With me today is Pablo, who, with Ricardo make up the Ojeda brothers, leaders of Sabrosa, the heir to their legendary Funk-Latin Band of yore…Rubberneck who tore it up in the late 90s and first part of this century. They were neo-Soul before there was neo-Soul and the new band fits right into the pocket that is so popular now. Pablo is the bass player and Ricardo is the singer and guitar player. They’ve been making music since they were kids and they may never stop. They have a crowdfunding thing going on to help get a Sabrosa album out.

In World Cup Coffee and Tea at NW 18th and Glisan for another OMN Coffeeshop Conversation. With me today is Alex Krebs, Tango teacher, Tango dancer and proprietor of Tango Berretin, his own Tango studio since 2001. He’s pretty much been Mr. Tango in Portland for a long time. And that’s Argentine Tango only. No other type of Tangos need apply. What’s the difference. That’s something we’re going to discover. You’ll also find out what a milonga is and why you might want to attend one. And what about his Balkan ensemble Krebsic Orkestar? He brought his very well-behaved young sons with him. Let’s talk with Alex Krebs

Thanks for finding us again. Live on tape from World Cup Coffee and Tea at NW 18th & Glisan in Portland, it’s another OMN Coffeeshop Conversation. Wth me today is Jay Bozich, one of the unsung heroes of the music scene in Portland. You may know him as King Fader from his DJ work in clubs. He also has added magic from the board that even the musicians can’t match in his work with live bands. Sometimes he does sound reinforcement only. He is currently handling sound at the Jack London Revue, a new club in the Rialto downtown. He’s done a whole lot more than that. You’ll be amazed. He was there when you were there, even if you didn’t realize it. Let’s meet King Fader, Jay Bozich.

Welcome back to World Cup Coffee and Tea at NW 18th and Glisan for another OMN Coffeeshop Conversation. Let’s go back to the first week of December in 2014, the premiere of Coffeeshop Conversations. This is number 109 of them, but number one was with saxophonist Mary-Sue Tobin, she of the Quadraphonnes and many many other bands and every kind of saxophone imaginable. When we passed number 100 a couple of months ago, I wanted to come back to her. Boy was that the right decision. She’s smart, funny and bursting with ideas. And we share an obsession about a certain pop tune. You’ll find out. She’s got so many things going on these days, including a Quadraphonnes gig playing the music of Andrew Durkin coming up. Let’s just dive in. p.s. She sent me a track from Paxselin called "Death and the Child" from A Guide To Desolation Wilderness to end things.

We took off last week because of the Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival. Hope you enjoyed our coverage. In the coffeeshop with me today is Scott Cunningham, OMN’s Managing Director, writer, fixer of IT problems and all around good guy. Every once in a while I like to bring one of our OMN family in and let you get acquainted. Scott is multi-talented and had a whole other career before he got involved with music.

Welcome back to another OMN Coffeeshop Conversation at World Cup Coffee and Tea, NW 18th & Glisan in Portland. Today is special. It’s the return of Curtis Salgado, what with his return to performing this weekend, on the Fourth of July at the Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival. He’s returning after a heart attack and multiple bypass surgery while he was on the road on the east coast. That’s a story. While all this was going on he won three Blues Music Awards: his song “Walk a Mile in My Blues” won the top honor for Song of the Year. Listen for it at the end of the conversation. He also was named Soul Blues Male Artist and received the Soul Blues Award for his album The Beautiful Lowdown. We always enjoy each other’s company when we do these things, so let’s just dive in.

Welcome back to another OMN Coffeeshop Conversation at World Cup Coffee and Tea, NW 18th & Glisan in Portland. Today is special. It’s the return of Curtis Salgado, what with his return to performing this weekend, on the Fourth of July at the Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival. He’s returning after a heart attack and multiple bypass surgery while he was on the road on the east coast. That’s a story. While all this was going on he won three Blues Music Awards: his song “Walk a Mile in My Blues” won the top honor for Song of the Year. Listen for it at the end of the conversation. He also was named Soul Blues Male Artist and received the Soul Blues Award for his album The Beautiful Lowdown. We always enjoy each other’s company when we do these things, so let’s just dive in.

Back at World Cup Coffee and Tea for another OMN Coffeeshop Conversation Mini-episode. The Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival is upon us and today I’m with Steve Kerin of about a million bands and a founding member of Oregon’s only Mardi Gras krewe, the Mysti Krewe of Nimbus. OMN will have a booth for the eighth year in the Louisiana Pavilion which the Krewe is in charge of for the first time. Make sure and stop by and say hello. It’s at the North end of the festival, near the Front Porch Stage. Steve is from southern Louisiana but he’s been a Portlander for quite a while.

Glad you have returned to OMN’s Coffeeshop Conversations which always take place at World Cup Coffee and Tea, NW 18th and Glisan. Today we’re going to find out why Rob Stroup…singer, songwriter, composer, producer and recording engineer is moving his studio and the rest of his life from Portland, where they all were born, to New Mexico. I know, surpising,right? Rob and his wife Naomi…a duo they call Moody Little Sister took a long time to come to this life-changing decision. A lot of music has come through his 8-Ball Studio including the latest by Debroah Arlyn. He’s got lots of gigs before the move. His Fourth Annual Camping Concert Happens Friday, August 25 through Sunday, August 27 at Dundee Lodge in Gaston, Oregon. Let’s talk to Rob Stroup.

Happy you’re back with us in World Cup Coffee and Tea for another OMN Coffeeshop Conversation. With me today is a guy I’ve known to say hi to, to do a little business with but we’ve never really sat down an shot the shit. He’s always been kind of a mystery to me. He’s Nicholas Harris, who also helps run Soul’d Out Productions…that’s the Soul’d Out Festival, but he’s also running the newest Jazz/Soul/Funk/Hip Hop club in Portland, the one in the basement of the venerable Rialto. We’re going to get the low-down on that and also a lot of other things including his love of all things New Orleans. This is going to be a good one because I’ve been looking forward to talking to him for a long time.

It’s another day in the coffeeshop and another OMN Coffeeshop Conversation at World Cup Coffee and Tea NW 18th and Glisan in Portland. A reminder that you can find these on iTunes, SoundCloud and TuneIn. Just search for Oregon Music News and there we are. Today in the coffeeshop we’ve got Blues/Soul singer Duffy Bishop, who moved a couple of years ago to Florida, with her cats and husband and collaborator Chris Carlson. She comes back to Portland to perform now and then. This is the now. We’ll find out all about them and why they moved, and how the cats are. She’s such an institution around here that they named the best vocalist Muddy Award after her because she won it so much.

June 1, 2017 Back in the coffeeshop with an old friend, right here at World Cup Coffee and Tea at NW 18th & Glisan for another OMN Coffeeshop Conversation. This podcast is now also available for you to listen to and even download on iTunes, SoundCloud and TuneIn. Just search for Oregon Music News. The old friend is Ron Rogers. His band, The Wailing Wind has been around for seems like ten years. Time flies. I wrote this in 2011 and it's still true: Remember when there was "Rock?" I mean the Rock that defined the late 60's and early 70's. Countrified Rock, Hippie Rock (I do not use the word Hippie pejoratively). The kind of Rock that found it's commercial success with the Eagles, the Byrds, the Flying Burrito Brothers, the Allman Brothers and a lot of others. If that is your speed, Ron is for you. But it's not retro in any respect, it's what he loves. There's a dash of L.A., a bit of Texas. It's guys like Ron that keep this music alive. For them and millions of other it never died, it only got pigeon-holed and

May 30, 2017 Hey. Welcome back to OMN’s Coffeeshop Conversations, this being another Mini-episode and the coffeeshop being World Cup Coffee and Tea at NW 18th & Gilsan. I want to remind you that this podcast is also available on iTunes, SoundCloud and TuneIn. Just search for Oregon Music News and bookmark it. Today singer/bassist Lisa Mann is here. I wanted to talk to her about her participation in filmmaker Robert Parish’s “Musicians Rising Up Series,” which he calls, “live performances to heal and inspire a confused and angry nation.” She’ll be participating in a video shoot at Lake Theatre on Monday, June 5. We’ll hear all about it and her globe-trotting career, which has really taken off in the past few years. This Lisa’s return visit to the coffeeshop and it was great to talk to her again.

May 26, 2017 Hey. Welcome back to World Cup Coffee and Tea at NW 18th & Gilsan in Portland. I’m Tom D'Antoni. Happy to let you know that Coffeeshop Conversations can now also be found on iTunes, SoundCloud, TuneIn and soon to be on Stitcher. Just search for Oregon Music News when you get there. Downloadable, too. Today Amy Maxwell pays a return visit to the coffeeshop. She was one of our first visitors, a couple of years ago, and a lot has changed for her since then. She was one of the founders of Ticket Tomato, which is celebrating its tenth anniversary. She started it with her then-husband Patrick Lamb. And that’s the last time we’ll mention it. She’s been on every side of the musical equation and is getting ready to launch a new concert promotion company while she continues to expand Ticket Tomato. She’s a sharp cookie, and anyone who has ever known her can attest to that. They’ll be handling the tickets for the upcoming Waterfront Blues Festival again this year. Let’s catch up with Amy Maxwell.